More Proof Britain’s Education System Has Failed

Not that more proof is needed to convince anyone with an iota of intelligence that the education system in Britain has let down an entire generation of our young people, but……..

No Hope?

Once again employers are slating the levels of literacy, numeracy and reading skills of our 1.02 million unemployed youth. The general consensus among employers is that our young people are unemployable in today’s market. No great surprises there!

Gerwyn Davies of the CIPD – The Report’s Author

A new report by Gerwyn Davies, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) points not only to the education shortfalls in young people today, but also their lack of communication skills, general tardiness, laziness, and poor time-keeping.

A Labour Legacy

Much criticism has been labelled at companies who employ migrant workers over British ones, but the report lays out in no uncertain terms the reasons for this. While more than 50% of the 1000 employers questioned complained of poor literacy, 42% stated that numeracy skills were far below the levels required and 40% said British applicants lacked communication and customer skills. For this reason, most companies preferred to hire foreign nationals who not only had all these skills in abundance, but were diligent, punctual and enthusiastic in their work. In fact all the things our own youth are not!

Currently, only 12% of employers plan to hire school-leavers, and no more than 25% would consider a teenager for employment. That however does not mean the jobs are not there because they are.

Another Job Oppotunity

In many areas employers are struggling to fill vacancies but the only people applying are foreigners. These are mainly High Street jobs, but let’s face it, they are jobs. Many examples were quoted in the article, in particular a spanish restaurant chain where in one establishment there are 25 workers, but only one Briton. Another restaurant, this time in Croyden, has 26 staff with only 7 Brits. An outdoor clothing store store has 15 staff with only 5 locals.

This picture is duplicated across the country for one reason only; British youth is not applying for these jobs. Many see working on the High Street as below them, especially if they have a degree, failing to realise that any job is better than none. Others consider the salary rates for such jobs as too low because they can make more money on benefits. Obviously self esteem does not play much of role in today’s world.

What Does the Future Hold For Me?

Up to a point, I can understand the sheer frustration felt by many of today’s youth, for to have no goal in life is hard. Every young person needs direction, and the prospect of being able to improve their lives, but that too is missing. Sadly, that is the fault of uncaring parents who have not properly prepared their offspring for life after school. Many young people have, in their eyes, studied hard to get qualifications, only to find that they are of little use because of the previous Labour governments disgraceful devaluing of them.

The CIPD also pointed out the difficulty in finding professional people like doctors, engineers and accountants. According to the report’s author, the reason for this debacle is “the legacy of the last Government, which failed to invest in skills’ and instead plugged the gap with foreign workers. Labour that was sought in the middle of the last decade from countries such as Poland was seen as a useful stopgap to filling the skills shortage at a time when the economy was doing really well.” He added: “The problem was hidden to a large degree. Now unemployment is at a much higher level and many of the migrant workers are still here”.

Welfare to Work?

There are of course many avenues to help solve this crisis in Britain, and the governments welfare-to-work scheme is seen as the most promising by the CIPD. On this subject Gerwyn Davies said: “I think that the key to improving the situation lies with the work programme. It is about giving them a helping hand, giving them professional, specialist advice that involves coaching and searching for work. It is this support that has been relatively lacking in recent decades that could be the difference between us improving the prospects of young people over the next couple of years or so”.

A long term solution can only be achieved by getting rid of the many teachers who are not up to scratch, and beefing up the system to overcome the disgraceful shortfalls in education that our children suffer today. I have on many occasions highlighted what needs to be done in these areas and will therefore not go into detail here. It is sufficient that I refer you to a couple of earlier posts on the subject:

For those interested there are more but the story is basically the same, our education system needs a major overhaul if we are to have skilled people in future generations. Currently the government is in my view on the wrong track by diversifying the system even more with its ‘free schools’. Instead, it should be concentrating on a standard curriculum for the entire country, a system that worked well in the past. It is wrong for the government to ‘fine tune’ the curriculum to pander to immigrants as Labour did, for if these people live in our country, they live by our rules and learn our language.
Nuff said!!!!!